Ports

(asked on 17th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the ability of a Port Authority to discharge their public duties when the Authority is owned and operated by a Private Port Owner.


Answered by
Robert Courts Portrait
Robert Courts
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This question was answered on 22nd November 2021

Policy and legislative responsibility in relation to Statutory Harbour Authorities (SHAs) located in devolved administrations have largely been devolved by statute to the respective governments and legislatures. An exception is in Wales, where reserved trust ports (of which there is one, Milford Haven Port Authority) and cross-border harbours remain the responsibility of the UK government and parliament.

No formal assessment of these arrangements, which are longstanding in the case of Scotland and Northern Ireland, has been made by the Department for Transport . Any rights and powers that local authorities have over SHAs are likely to be included in the local legislation applying to individual SHAs. It should be noted that Local Authorities themselves may be SHAs for harbours and ports that they own and manage. Ministers and officials meet regularly with their DA counterparts to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Statutory Harbour Authorities (SHAs) have their duties and powers to manage a harbour set out in legislation, which is a mix of local legislation specific to that SHA as well as general harbour related legislation. While the specific duties will vary from SHA to SHA, in general terms their purpose is to maintain, manage and improve the harbour which they are responsible for in the broad public interest. In England and for reserved harbours in Wales, SHAs are either private companies, independent statutory bodies known as Trust Ports or owned by Local authorities. All SHAs should act within their powers to meet their statutory duties as set out in the relevant legislation. A failure to act in accordance with those duties could lead to the SHA facing legal challenges (such as judicial review proceedings) for breach of their statutory obligations.. In 2018, the Department for Transport issued Ports Good Governance Guidance applying to all SHAs in England and Wales it has policy responsibility for setting out best practice guidance on governance and a range of other issues.

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